News

Tri-Valley letters: Run for the hills -- a sequestered sky is falling!

Times-Herald

Posted:
03/07/2013 12:00:00 AM PST

Run for the hills -- sequestered sky is falling!

On Feb. 26, Chicken Little -- aka the president, announced, with a backdrop of uniformed emergency first responders standing at attention, that unless the Republicans came to a tax increase agreement, the world, as we have known it, would stop spinning and this cataclysm event would send our nation back to the Stone Age.

Yes, on March 1 the sequester would throw us into such a tizzy that only more government spending would be able to save us. All this over a 5 percent cut in domestic spending and a 7 percent cut in our defense budget. Wouldn't a private company department supervisor be able to find a percent here and there to achieve this goal? (Excessive staffing, unnecessary travel, no more bottled water, lavish spending at conferences -- you get the point.) Heck, maybe we could get that $800 NASA toilet seat cover for $744. Such a deal!

Bob Atkinson

Pleasanton

Cyberbullying -- stop it when it's discovered

Cyberbullying is on the rise in the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District. Currently, the district policy has been to investigate webpages and close them down. It is left up to the administrator at each school to decide if the parents will be notified. This does not stop the bullies.

As parents, we should be informed when a child is bullied. Only parents can report crimes on behalf of their children. Cyberbullying is a crime. Most Internet websites, like Facebook or Instagram, will work with the police.

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The only way to catch bullies who hide behind computer screens or phones and type cruel messages designed to humiliate and degrade is by reporting them to the police. These messages are viewed by hundreds of people. We need to send a message that this is not acceptable. Examples of some recent messages are "Go Kill Yourself!" and "Everyone hates you." They get much worse and more graphic.

Rumors and name-calling are very damaging to a child and can lead to depression. We need to be aware of what kids are sending and receiving. We need to develop strict laws and guidelines within our school district and communities. Stop cyberbullying!

Cheryl Carzoli

Livermore

Climate control -- idea now not just for crazies?

Can we talk here? How can we have an honest discussion on what we might do for clean air when no elected official is willing to challenge what's going on in our sky? At least Mark Altgelt deserves kudos for his courageous effort (Valley Times 2/17/2013) to write on atmospheric solutions.

In Sen. Al Gore's appearance on Ellen DeGeneres' show recently, for the first time mainstream media floated the idea of orbital-chemtrails: —... Well, some of them (scientists)," says Gore, "are seriously proposing, and I think it's completely nuts [laughter], you know, you put another kind of pollution, sulfur dioxide, up to orbit ... cover the atmosphere, the sky won't be really blue anymore ...."

But Gore's not forthcoming either. Our own Air Force-NSA-CIA has subcontracted for almost two decades much of its 1996 mission, "Control The Weather By 2025" to a company called Evergreen stationed in the Midwest, where it dumps toxic alumina and more, low-level up to about 30,000 feet, 24/7/365 throughout the northern hemisphere. Other countries are doing the same. It's producing deadly unintended consequences.

Rich Buckley

Livermore

Sowell can't be Korean War vet

Regarding a letter by Hal & Linda Bray about columnist Thomas Sowell, the letter is a classic example of people making up their own fact-based evidence to support their position.

Consider: The writers assert that Sowell is a 73-year-old black man who didn't finish high school but obtained a GED after returning from the Korean War (Marine Corps). If Sowell is 73, that means that he was born in 1940 and was only 13 years when the Korean War ended in 1953. I don't believe that the Marine Corps took in 10-to 13-year-olds and sent them into combat.

Further, if he were born in 1940, it's unlikely that he graduated from Harvard in 1958 at age 18 after having been in the war working those menial jobs to get a GED. The numbers don't fit the praise.

In my last year as a personnel manager, I terminated 12 PhDs, all magna cum laude, who lacked the ability to understand and work with others to accomplish assignments. Some of the greatest breakthroughs in science and other areas that better our lives have been made by people with lesser credentials who had the ability to see what needed to be done to lead us to a better tomorrow, and then took the initiative to get us there.

William V. Ormond III

Livermore

Always leash dogs on trail

On Feb. 25 around 9:30 a.m., a man had his dog off-leash on the Iron Horse Trail in Alamo between Stone Valley and Las Trampas roads when the dog fatally attacked a beautiful tortoiseshell-colored cat.

The man, claiming he was going to put his dog in the car and return, left and never returned. The cat, though its spine was severed, was conscious and obviously in tremendous pain. Several people tried to contact local vets in the area, animal control (which was closed) and the sheriff's office. Thankfully, a local vet, Dr. Sexton, came to the rescue. He should be commended for his assistance and kindness during this traumatic ordeal.

This could have been easily prevented. Dogs should never be off-leash on the trail. There are not only cats but small children who could be seriously injured. If your dog is off-leash on the trail, prepare for opposition from the many people who witnessed this awful spectacle and who WILL call you out.

Wendy Weissman

Danville

Dropping your home phones may be mistake

There has been a huge drop in hardwire phone service for our homes. This is a huge mistake.

God forbid when a disaster hits you will be without your cell phone service or Internet, which includes VoIP. The only phones that will work are the hardwire home phones. So please do not drop your home phone service.